Italian GP - Friday - Practice Session 2 Report

Rosberg Won-Hamilton 16

Nico Rosberg "won" Free Practice 2 after setting the fastest lap in his Mercedes. His teammate Lewis Hamilton was stuck in the garage for the first 60 minutes because his car would not start. He eventually got on track and managed to complete 16 laps compared to Rosberg's 41. Still, in those few laps Hamilton was able to clock the second best time which was just 0.061 of a second slower than Rosberg.

The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 74 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 93 degrees Fahrenheit (34 degrees Centigrade.)

Romain Grosjean was the first out after stopping at pit exit to do a practice start in his Lotus.

Once the drivers started setting lap times it was Sergio Perez who went to the front with a 1:28.270 in his Force India. Daniel Ricciardo was out there running in his Red Bull that had been repaired after acting up in FP1.

Things got serious when Nico Rosberg laid down a marker with a 1:27.500 in his Mercedes. Perez, in the Mercedes-powered Force India, posted a 1:27.585.

19 minutes into the session, Rosberg did a nice bit of symmetry by turning a 1:27.005. Then Jenson Button in the Mercedes-powered McLaren went quicker with a time of 1:26.975, only to have Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari-powered Ferrari beat that with a 1:26.790.

Lewis Hamilton was in the pits. His Mercedes would not start. The guys that were on the track were running on Pirelli's hard compound slick tires with the orange sidewalls.

22 minutes into the session, Rosberg topped the times with a 1:26.786. Alonso was second ahead of McLaren teammates Button and Kevin Magnussen. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) and Valtteri Bottas (Williams) rounded out the top six.

At the 30 minute mark the top six remained the same. Felipe Massa (Williams), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) and Force India teammates Perez and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10. Hamilton was still in the pits.

32 minutes into the session, Magnussen was out there on Pirelli's medium compound tires with the white sidewalls. But he remained in fourth place.

36 minutes into the session, Ricciardo scraped into the top 10.

37 minutes into the session, Perez, who was ninth, started a run on the medium tires, and jumped up to seventh.

38 minutes into the session, Magnussen, still on the same set of the mediums, moved into third.

Now more drivers were on the mediums. Rosberg lowered his time to 1:26.225 as Bottas turned a 1:26.758. The "option" medium tire was about 0.6 of a second quicker than the hard compound.

Just before the midway point through FP2 the top six were: Rosberg, Bottas, Button, Alonso, Vettel and Magnussen. The Alonso took second with a 1:26.565.

Midway through FP2 the top six were:

With 38 minutes remaining in the session, Kimi Raikkonen moved his Ferrari into second with a 1:26.331. Ricciardo, meanwhile, worked his Red Bull up to eighth.

With 29 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton finally got out of the garage and onto the track.

With 27 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton jumped to 12th with a time of 1:27.352 with the medium tires on his third lap. He then pitted after doing four laps.

With 21 minutes remaining in the session, only Kamui Kobayashi was in the garage, and he soon joined the fun. The teams were doing their long run race sims to see how long the tires would last.

Hamilton was on the move, however, and jumped into second place with a 1:26.286 with 18 minutes to go. That was just 0.061 slower than Rosberg.

With 16 minutes remaining in the session, only Grosjean was in the pits. "The traffic was crazy out there," radioed Hamilton.

With 10 minutes remaining in the session, only Grosjean and Hamilton were in the pits as the long runes on the medium and hard tires continued.

With 5 minutes remaining in the session, Button locked his brakes and slid off at the first chicane trying to dodge past two other cars.

With 2 minutes remaining in the session, every driver was out there.

The top 10 at the end of FP2 were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Alonso, Bottas, Button, Vettel, Magnussen, Massa and Ricciardo.